Holding device



Feb. 21, 1933. A: D. DRURY 1,898,349

HOLDING DEVICE Filed Aug. 24, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l I Hue-221502 Patented Feb. 21, 1933 enrich HOLDING DEVICE Application filed August at, 1929. Serial No. 388,059.

My invention relates to means whereby garments, hats, suitcases, bags and the like can be securely locked in a suitable holding a device by inserting the proper coin and removing the key. it has for its object the construction of a device of this character which shall be compact, attractive in appearance, positive in its operation, and incapable of being released except by the holder of the key thereof.

Further objects attained are, first, an increasingly strong grip upon the articles as they are given their final pressure by the device; second, a grip upon a hat, coat or bag, which will not injure the same, and yet will securely retain them in place.

In the drawings wnich form part of this specification, Fig. 1 is a front elevation of M the device in position ready to receive the articles. 2 is a rear elevation; but with the back removed. Fig. 8 is a detail View of the main'operative portion of the mecha nism. Fig. 4- is a side central sectional view W of the device. Fig. 5 is a rear elevation of the same but with both the back and the main operative portion removed. Fig. 6 is a sectional view on the arch line 6-6, of Figure 5 looking downward with the casing cut away, and Fig. 7 is a sectional View on the line 7-7, of Fig. 5 looking downward.

As illustrated the case C for said device is provided with a back B which is adapted to be attached to said case and locked by the front lock 1. On he front of the case is provided a fined hood 2, below which is a vertically slidable clamping m mber 3 by means of which hats and caps can be held against unwarranted removal. This clamping member 3 has descending therefrom skirt t up into which another clamping member 5 is designed to forcibly enter for holding coats and other garments at their collar and bags by their handle.

The upper portion of th clamping member 3 is provided with a seat 6 preferably having a block of rubber or the like, as 7, projecting slightly therefrom, for proper protect-ion of the hat. This rubber block 7 is roughened on the surface so that a better grip of the hat may be had. Immediately at the rear of this seat 6 is lower garment-clamp 5 is approximatel snapec and is pivoted upon an arm a from an e how 12 whose shank 13 is -y slidable in a slot 14iin the front This garment clamp 5 is pivoted I may be moved by pulling the lower utwardly, to provide a little extra space between it and the interior of the skirt a, which space may be needed when slipping an extra thick garment such as a fur coat in place. A coat, preferably'at the collar portion, may be draped over the garment-clamp 5, the handle of bag resting on the horizontal portion 11a of the arm 11, and a hat inserted as described between the hood 2 and the up: or portion of clamping member 3. .hen the members 3 and 5 are forced upwarduntil the coat is against the interior of the 't or bell i, and the rubber block 7 and 7 1 are close enough to each other to also the at in place. 1 coin-controlled actuation of these s, following mechanism is provided: In the upper section of the case 1 is a 1 15 rotatably supported on a stud l6, ivotally connected by a pitman 17 to a lower sliding plate 19 attached to the shank l3. inis sl'ding plate 19 and another similar ate 196;, which latter is attached to the back )OitlO f the upper clamp 3, both slide on i 3 astenec. to the inside of the case C. 1e who l in me an operating handle 20 pro- 7 through the case-top; and when si 5 is given a partial turn the coatcla np 5 i'orced upwardly.

To prevent the wheel 15 from being turned to its locking position without the introduc tion of the proper coin through the slot 21, the wheel is provided with a detent 22, movably held in place by a pin 22a and normally held from any outward movement by a light spring 22?) as indicated in Figure 2.

When the wheel is turned for a limited distance, said detent 22 comes agains u a lug 23 cast on the inside of the case C, as shown in Figures 5 and (3, and so prevents further movement. Up to this point only the shank 13 with the lower clamping member 5 have moved upwardly, and the head of said clamping member 5 is almost in contact with the inner surface of the clamping member 3 just below the seat 6. ll hen the coin is introduced, it is received between the ledge 24 of the detent 22 and the inner surface of the periphery of the wheel 15, and is carried along with the wheel as it is turned, by moving the hand e 20, until the coin reaches an incline 25, and as it slides downwardly its weight against the shoulder 220 of the detent 22 forces said detent slightly outward, overcoming the pressure of the spring 225 sufficiently for the detentto clear the lug 23. The wheel may now be rotated further until the hat and garment are securely held, and the coin falls into the cola-box 26. This further movement soon causes the upper clamping member 3 also to move, as the previous movement of member 5 had brought it almost into contact with member 3, and this upward movement is continned until the rub' er block 7 and felt 1O tightly grip the hat between them. In this locked position of the wheel 15, the parts 2, 4 and 5 are all in their clamping positions, and the garments irremovably held therein.

The next function to be performed is that of preventin the wheel 15 from being an warrantably returned to normal by a person not having the key. For this purpose, the wheel is provided on the inside with ratchet teeth 2?, as shown in 3, designed to be engaged by a dog 29 which is radially movable toward and from the wheel center, but normally pressed outward for engagement with the teeth 27 by a spring 30, as shown in Fi 5. This toothed segment 2? is so disposed that the dog 29 will not engage it until. a the detent 22 has been caused to pass the lug 23, but by thus having numerous teeth, the dog 29 "ill hold the wheel from retraction through. a considerable range of thickness of garments supported on the garment clamp 5.

As illustrated in Figures 4 and 6, a key 31 in the lock 32 is enabled to turn a finger 33 in betwee the two lugs 34 on the dog 29 and thereby move the dog 29 inwardly toward the wheel center and out of engagement with the toothed segment 27. A spring wire 3364 attached at one end to the case C by means of screws as shown in Figure 5, the other end resting on the finger 33, coacts with the turning the key 31, and is set to normally keep the finger 33 away from the lugs 34.

This dog 29 is provided with a rotatable pin or anti-friction roll 35 which is located,

when the wheel is in normal or unused position, in the slot 37 formed below the curved finger 36 which is a part of the wheel 15. In this position below said finger 36, shown in Figure 2, the dog is held out of engagement with the toothed segment 27. hen, however the detent 22 cl-e: s the lug 23 said finger passes beyond the roll 35 allowing the dog to come into contact with the toothed segment 2'? and there is a clicking as the teeth 27 and dog touch on tl forward movement of the wheel. On any attempted backward movement of the wheel while the parts are in this position the dog will catch in a tooth of said segment 27 and the wheel is thereby locked and it is impossible to remove the articles held by my device without the key 31. lVhcn it is desired to remove the articles the turning of the key moves the dog out of engagement with said toothed segment and the whe l is free to rotate back to its normal position. The key 31, however, must be kept turned to hold the dog 29 out of engagement with the toothed segment 22 until said segment has passed beyond said dog, just before which passing the 36 has reached the roll 35 and again serves to hold the dog away from said teeth.

The chief purpose of this finger 36 holding the roll 35 down so that the dog 29 is kept out of engagement with said teeth, is to prevent removal of the key 31 until a coin has been inserted. When the device is in normal position the key is so turned in the lock that it cannot be removed and the key finger 33 is located between the two lugs 34 on the dog 29, and any attempted movement of the key is frust ated by the finger 33 striking one of the lugs 34. As soon as the curved finger 36 passes beyond the roll 35 the dog is released and immediately contacts with the toothed segment 27 which is now opposite said dog, and the lugs 34 are now in such a position with relation to the key finger 33 that said finger may be moved out of its position between said lugs 34 and the key turned in the lock until it is in a position to be removed.

The hat-clamp 3 is provided with a stop for retaining it normally a short distance below the hood 2, a space sufficient to allow a hat-brim to be introduced therethrough. Such a stop is shown in Fig. 5 at 40, located just outside the path of the plate 19 of the member 5, and given a rubber tip 41 in order to prevent noise when it descends.

In the employment of this garment holder, the hat is put in place on the member 3, and the coat or other g, rment is draped over clamping member 5, ti e latter being pivota supported to accommodate varLous thicknesses of collars. Then the handle 20 is drawn toward the left in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 1 until the articles are firmly held, the dog 29 engaging the nearest tooth 27 and thereby locking all in place.

Before, thus pulling upon the handle the proper coin must, of course, be deposited through the slot 21.

The key being withdrawn from the look, no unauthorized person can release the garments from the holder; but by again inserting the key and turning the lock, the weight of the arments at once cause the parts to return to normal and to release themselves.

It should be observed that when the wheel 15 is turned to elevate the members 5 and 3, the upper end of the pitman 17 closely approaches the topmost point of the wheel, so that the leverage becomes increasingly strong and the garments are the more tightly held.

To make sure that the bell 4 will drop and release the hat held by it, I prefer to provide a cross bar 42, against which the sliding plate 19a contacts with at a certain point in its upward movement. This cross bar 42 abuts against helical springs 43 as shown in Figures 2 and 5, the same being so disposed as to be compressed when the bell rises to its upward position, and hence to yieldingly press the latter back down when released.

In case a customer wishes to have his hat alone protected, and the lower clamping member 5 is brought forcibly upward into the hell 4 for pressing the latter into hatciamping engagement with the hood 2, it is desirable to provide a buffer to deaden such contact. Consequently I secure a layer of yielding material as leather'45, within the bell, as shown in Figure 4, up against which the member 5 contacts. To further decrease the impact, a recess 46 is provided above the center of the buffer 45.

My device is preferably provided with a meter M of well known construction to register the number of times it'is used. This meter is held inside the case by a holder 53 which is screwed to the meter and case. The front of the case C has a small portion cut out as at 54 through which the meter may be read. Connected to the meter mechanism (not shown) is an arm 55, the movement of which causes the meter to record. The hook end of a bent wire 56 is inserted through a hole in said arm while the other end slides in another hole provided in a fixed arm 57 attached to the sliding plate 19a. Two helical springs 58 fit over said wire 56 on each side of said stationary arm 57, the movement of said springs 58 being limited by the rings 59 fastened to said wire as shown. As will be seen only the movement of clamp 3 has any effect on said meter. The upward movement of sliding plate 19a. attached to said clamp 3, carries the arm 57 against the upper spring 58 which in turn moves the meter arm 55 which latter movement actuates the mechanism inside the meter and on the return of said meter arm 55, which takes place when the device is unlocked and sliding plate 19a slides downwardly, the meter registers the next higher number which may be seen through the cut-outportion 54.

The coin box 26 cannot be reached or tampered with because provision is made to lock the case C to the back B. This back B has inwardly projecting lugs 60 which slide into slots 61 made in the lugs 62 which project outwardly at the back of the case. This back has a projection 63 which is designed to extend into the case and fit between the meter M and the bolt 64 of the lock 65, which bolt 64 is thrust out of the lock 65 when the key is turned to lock the back onto the case. As will be seen the bolt 64 when in locking position prevents any upward movement of the case or downward movement of the back, thereby preventing the separation of the case and back except by one having the key.

When it is desired to remove the coins from the box 26 the key is turned in the lock 1 which draws the bolt 64 within said lock, and the case is moved upwardly until the lugs 60 on the back are out of the slots 61 and the case is moved away from said back, making the coin box, which is removably attached to saidback as shown at 66, readily accessible.

A shock absorber consisting of a pin 67 and spring 68 fastened to the case C is provided for the pitman 17 to strike against when the wheel 15 is released and the pitman swiftly returns to normal.

While a specific embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, the invention is not to be considered as limited to the particular combination and arrangement of parts as abovedescribed, except as limited in scope by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A holding device having in combination means to support an article of clothing, instrumentalities adapted to co-operate with said means to irremovably hold said clothing, and mechanism adapted to cause said means and instrumentalities to co-operate to hold said clothing, said mechanism comprising a rotatable wheel, a handle to operate said wheel and a pitman pivotally connected to said wheelat one end and connected to said means at the other end, and mechanism to lock said wheel in position to thereby irremovably hold said clothing.

2. A holding device comprising a case, a rotatable wheel within said case having means for its forcible turning, a stationary clamping member, a slidable clamping member, and a pitman connecting said wheel and slidable member disposed to have the clamping force at its maximum during the termination of the clamping action.

3. A holding device comprising a case, a wheel within said case having external means for its rotation, a stationary clamping member, a vertically slidable clampin member beneath the latter, a vertically slida le clamping member below the second-named clamp ing member, and a pitman oining the thirdnamed clamping member with said wheel, whereby the partial rotation of the latter causes all three clamping members to be put into clamping action.

4. A holding device comprising a case, a hood rigid with said case, a vertically slidable member below said hood having an inclined seat and back at its upper portion and a bell projecting below, a vertically slidable member below said bell having a pivotally supported garment clamp, and means for forcing the latter up into said bell and by its pressure to force said seat up into hatclamping engagement with said hood.

5. A holding device comprising a case, a wheel having external means for its rotation, and a toothed segment, a dog slidably supported by said case for engagement with said segment, a spring pressing it into such engagement, a ke -operated means for moving said dog out of said engagement, an antifriction roll carried by said dog, and a finger rigid with said wheel disposed for engaging said roll after the dog has been moved out of said engagement and to so retain it until said segment is opposite said dog.

ALBERT D. DRURY. 

